(Bloomberg) — A 1,500-acre fire is burning in the Big Sur area in California, forcing authorities to close a section of Pacific Coast Highway leading up to the iconic Granite Canyon Bridge.
The fire in the Palo Colorado Canyon and Rocky Creek Road area remained “stubbornly active overnight,” the Bay Area’s National Weather Service said in a tweet earlier Saturday. Orders to evacuate a neighborhood in Monterey County began on Friday when the fire burned about 100 acres, KCRA reported.
Dry winds were pushing flames toward Highway 1, according to the National Weather Service. The state’s transportation department said there’s no estimate on when the highway along the Pacific coast will reopen.
The NWS said long-term drought is acting like a “chronic illness” and even cold weather and recent rains aren’t deterring fires from igniting. The NWS said the amount of possible fuel on the ground for a fire “is near normal, which normally means things don’t actively burn in January.”
The weather forecast shows no rain for the next seven days in the region.
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